


Far Away

by Space Chief (Nightmare_Child)



Category: Mystery Science Theater 3000
Genre: First Kiss, Love Confessions, M/M, fluff and a teensy bit of angst, of course Gypsy knew about them before they did
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-30
Updated: 2015-07-30
Packaged: 2018-04-12 02:34:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4462061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nightmare_Child/pseuds/Space%20Chief
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's something Mike wants to say to Joel and something Joel wants to hear, but they're not very good at communication. Good thing Gypsy's there to help.</p>
<p>I own nothing, all rights and characters belong to Joel Hodgson and Best Brains Inc.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Far Away

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first fic for this ship and for this fandom, so be gentle with me. Anyway I've been meaning to write something about these adorable dweebs forever, and am finally getting around to it. I hope you like it, thanks for reading. :)

Joel awoke slowly, feeling life sluggishly reenter his wearied limbs. Every morning he woke he felt less and less rested. He told himself it was nothing, but deep down he knew where this ennui stemmed from. Joel didn't want to think about him, but it was hard since he was the only other human being around, unless you counted the mads, which he didn't. There was just something about Mike he found compelling and he was certain he'd feel the same way on earth, with billions of other people around. It wasn't settling, it was something else, something that Joel didn't like to think about. He pushed these thoughts aside before they could take root and climbed out of bed. He was just stepping into his jumpsuit when there was a knock at the door. He zipped his jumpsuit up and headed for the door. The door opened with a metallic whoosh to reveal one Mike Nelson, of course.

"Hey Mike." Joel said, aiming for casual.

"Uh, hey." replied Mike somewhat awkwardly. "I was, um I just wanted to... Er, the bots are looking for you." he finished in a rush and without another word he turned and fled down the hall.

"That was weird." Joel said to himself as he wandered off to find Crow and Servo.

 

* * *

 

Mike turned the corner, glad to be out of Joel's line of sight. He took a deep breath, trying to calm the pounding of his heart in his chest. He scrubbed a hand over his face in frustration, felt the warmth in his scarlet tinged cheeks.

"Get it together, Nelson." he scolded himself.

I mean sure, he'd been no Casanova back on earth, but asking for a simple date couldn't be that hard. Could it? He'd been trying for months now to muster the courage to ask Joel out, not that they could really go out, trapped as they were. So far he'd stammered his way through several awkward encounters and had gotten no closer to letting Joel know how he felt. Instead he'd found it harder and harder to be around Joel, certain that the man could sense his feelings. He found it difficult to look into those soft brown eyes and every time he tried to speak, the words would get all twisted up and come out wrong. He'd thought about just taking hold of him and kissing him, words be damned. It was a nice thought, but then he thought of the thousand ways it could go horribly wrong and it didn't seem so nice anymore. With a defeated sigh, Mike headed for the only place on the ship he found any peace.

 

* * *

 

Joel wandered onto the bridge in search of Tom and Crow, what he found was Gypsy, hard at work it seemed.

"Hey Gyps," He said. "You seen the fellas around?"

"Last time I checked they were playing Sasquatch and ocelot down in docking bay 14." replied Gypsy.

"They weren't lookin' for me?"

"I don't think so, why?" Gypsy asked.

"Aww, nothin'. Just Mike said they were lookin' for me. I wonder why, he's been actin' kinda funny lately."

"Really? Like how?"

"He seems uncomfortable around me now, won't look me in the eye, that sorta thing."

Joel had been pretending not to notice the shift in Mike's behavior, had been telling himself it had nothing to do with him. But it nagged at him nonetheless, somehow it felt like his fault. Joel feared Mike had caught on to his feelings for him, that he was uncomfortable around Joel because of it.

“I dunno, maybe I did somethin’ to bother him.” Joel said, more to himself.

“I don’t think that’s the case.” Gypsy said knowingly. “I think you should talk to Mike about it.”

“I don’t think he wants to talk to me, Gyps.”

“Trust me, there’s definitely something he wants to talk about.” And with that, Gypsy was gone. As she retreated Joel heard her mutter something exasperatedly under her breath, something that sound like, ‘Humans’.”

“Why’s everyone actin’ so weird?” He asked himself. He waited a few moments, as if expecting an answer and when he didn’t receive one, against his better judgment he went to find Mike.

Joel found him without too much effort. Mike could often be found in the same place in his off hours, one of the docking bays in the underside of the ship. There were large view screens on the walls, almost like windows out into space, through which could be seen earth, small and lonely and so far away. Joel found him gazing out of one such view screen. He considered turning back, not wanting to disturb him, but when he took a step back his foot hit an ankle high railing spanning the length of the room. Mike turned to him at the sound.

“Oh hey.” He said, averting his gaze. “I didn’t hear you come in.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to bother you, it’s just…”

“What?”

“Somethin’ Gypsy said.”

“Oh.” Was all Mike said and Joel saw how tense he looked now, just from looking at him. Joel decided he’d had enough, they were adults there was no need for such childish games.

“Listen,” he began. “I don’t know what I did to bug you, but whatever it is, I didn’t mean it.”

“What are you talking about?” asked Mike, confused.

“You know what I mean, you been actin’ real weird around me for months and I don’t know why. If you’re mad about somethin’ just tell me.”

“You think I’m mad at you?”

“Well that or…” Joel trailed off uncomfortably.

“Or what?”

“Ya know what, just forget it. This was a bad idea.” Joel turned to go, but a moment later he felt a hand take hold of his arm, stopping him. He turned to see Mike looking at him, in a way he hadn’t in months. Joel returned his gaze and felt himself longing for things he’d spent years convincing himself he couldn’t have.

“I thought you mighta figured it out.” Joel said quietly.

“Figured what out?”

“H-How I felt about you.”

Mike froze in place, an unreadable expression on his face. “How you felt about me?” he asked dumbfounded.

“It’s okay I know you don’t feel that way, just forget I said any-”

Joel’s words were cut off by Mike’s lips, pressed against his own in a gentle kiss. Joel was so shocked he almost forgot to kiss him back, almost. Joel wrapped his arms around Mike’s neck as Mike’s arms snaked around his waist. Mike’s lips, soft and curious, were so much better than Joel had imagined. The kiss was brief, too brief for Joel’s liking and when Mike pulled away, Joel regretted the loss instantly. Mike lifted his hand to cup Joel’s cheek.

“I had no idea.” He said softly.

“Me neither.” Replied Joel.

They both let out a quiet laugh.

“How do you feel about me exactly?” Mike asked teasingly.

“I love you.” Joel said, and as he spoke the words aloud for the first time, he knew in his heart they were true.

“Good.” Mike said with a smile. “Cause I love you too.”

They kissed again, longer and deeper this time and full of the ache of longing. And the view of the earth beside them didn’t seem quite so lonely anymore, nor quite so far away.


End file.
